Another Man's Treasure
by fridamoonbeam
Summary: What if Ivy hooked up with Rick instead after Derek cheated? What if things didn't work out between Rick and Kate? Where would he find new inspiration and heal a broken heart?


**(Caskett shippers please don't hate me! I really like Rick and Kate, I just want to explore a "what if" with Rick and Ivy since I would love if they gave her someone LIKE him on Smash. This will be a fairly short fic since I just want to get to key scenes and only have so many hours in the day. Hope you all enjoy and please review :) )**

Ivy stirred in her sleep waking with a little headache, taking a long second to remember what happened... Last night after she made all these plans for Derek's birthday he blew it off to have sex with that incompetent stunt-cast pain in the ass, on the same day he told Ivy he loved her….. As much as she wanted to believe she and Derek had a deeper level of understanding, the only person he was capable of loving was himself, and that did burn. So after she confronted Karen, and as predicted the Midwest Moonface denied knowing anything about Derek and Rebecca, Ivy went to drown her sorrows in a dirty martini. God she had been drinking a lot lately, well that's what happens when your boyfriend is a cheating prick and your dreams are in constant limbo.

She sunk her head in the pillow again about to cry, shutting her eyes, before the tears

could escape a man entered from the bathroom. He was about as tall as Derek but this guy was broader and thicker. It was kind of nice, you could tell had a lot of muscle but he also looked really huggable. He was really handsome with dusty brown hair, mischievous blue eyes and a square jaw. He greeted her with a boyish grin and a towel at his waist. "Morning Gorgeous, how did you sleep?"

Ivy sat up, keeping the blanket close to her person. "Oh, oh, Hi." She laughed a little not wanting to appear unfriendly.

He smiled "It's Rick." he reminded her gently in case she was still fuzzy about the night before.

Ivy smiled, embarrassed. "I knew that." she laughed a little then remembered how much she had poured her heart out to him last night. "Oh, and now you know I'm completely insane." she buried her face into her knees. "I'm so sorry, its just that I feel like my life has been barely held together by a thread and when things seem like they're getting better, something else comes along to knock me down, and now I'm doing things that make me hate myself even more and now-"

Rick put a finger to her lips, offering only a smile. "We've been through this last night. Look at the facts; you know the part, you created the part, you have as good a chance as anyone."

"Not with Karen Cartwright, she's handed everything on a silver platter and she's the understudy already." Ivy vented more.

"You don't know that," he said very positively as a fact. "Everyone has there time to shine, and not shine. Now what time do you have to be there?"

Ivy's eyes widened, whirling her head around for the nearest clock. "Ten minutes ago. I need to get moving." She looked at Rick, and smiled a little shyly "Would you mind..."

Rick smirked "No, I wouldn't mind at all." He sat down in the chair, crossing a leg over the other with his hands behind his head as if he was expecting a show.

Ivy couldn't help but laugh and toss a pillow at him, "You know what I meant."

"Can't blame a guy for trying." Rick grinned and rose retreating back to the bathroom to change and give Ivy some privacy.

When Rick disappeared into the other room Ivy sat for a long moment longer thinking he was really sweet, well so far, he may be that rare one night stand that wasn't a jerk, or running for the hills right when the sun came up. Geeze, she didn't really know anything about him, but she purged all her issues and insecurities and he didn't make her feel like an awful person for how she felt. Eh, probably no chance he'd call. Nice guys don't like her, and she guessed she wouldn't like him if he did call, cause that would mean he was actually a jerk. Wow she must have still been a little drunk since she was thinking in circles…..

/

Ivy stood there for a moment in her Marilyn costume and sighed. Karen had run off to cry because her fiance Dev cheated on her with some girl from his work. Well, Ivy had been cheated on too, and she wasn't about the run off. No, Karen was a nice girl, but she wasn't strong, she couldn't handle this. Ivy had a small thought about the girl from Iowa, maybe they could have been friends in another setting. Who knows but this situation was so hard. Karen didn't want this, she didn't slave for this, her blood sweat and tears didn't go into this. Karen just didn't understand the real love it took to do this. Derek though, disagreed, and had to break Ivy's heart again by telling her she didn't have "It." Ivy exhaled, trying to let it go since it was her time to shine. She thought of Rick, and what he said about everyone getting their time. Ivy couldn't help but smile. Actually she grinned from ear to ear it was going to happen for her at last.

Ivy hurried to the stage in her little red dress, it showed a lot of skin and sparkled like a ruby. Her Marilyn wig was in place, and she beamed with all the life pouring out of her. She parted the curtain, and adjusted the bracelet then glanced up, gasping. Rick, and older red haired woman were talking to Eileen. What was he doing here? It had been a couple of days since she'd seen him, and didn't even think she'd see him again, and didn't want to invest too much feeling about the topic.

"Ivy!" Rick grinned, obviously excited about what he was seeing. "Look at you, its like you just stepped right out of the movie."

Ivy smiled "Rick? What are you doing here?"

Before he could answer Derek came back and brought Karen with him, and Ivy's heart sank seeing her in her Marilyn costume. So Derek had convinced Karen to toughed up…. And now Ivy was out. Ivy just turned and left the stage to change, trying so hard not to cry, but dear god, she was so close, and it was ripped from her again. It was like she was meant to keep losing. She closed the door behind her taking a minute to breathe, she tore off her wig and felt like it was at the same time ripping off a piece of her soul. She stood there silent for a moment until a deep voice interrupted her. "Ivy." he said gently.

Ivy turned and saw Rick standing in the doorway of the dressing room. "I saw what happened. I just wanted to see how you were doing."

Ivy smiled more at him but it quickly shifted when she heard a familiar voice , "Ivy!" she entered the room the room, like a queen arriving to grace the little people. It's how her mother always entered a room. "Oh," she smirked seeing her daughter embraced by a handsome man. "I hope I'm not interrupting but I had to come and celebrate with you. You're Marilyn!" she grinned raising the bottle of expensive champagne ready to pop the cork that her daughter wasn't a loser.

"No Mom… I'm not Marilyn, I'm not a star….." Ivy's brow sank more, not wanting to face her mother's look. "Derek said Karen has something I don't…. I'm not Marilyn. …." She was greeted with warm arms, and she didn't feel the urge to push him away. Her earlier assumption was right, he was very huggable.

"Being Ivy Lynn is awesome though." Rick tried to sooth, rubbing her back a little. "Listen, what are you doing later?"

She shook her head, "I don't know, I won't abandon this show but I don't know….." she really didn't know what to do with herself, be in yet another show where her dreams were crushed. She'd reached the top and she didn't even know if it was worth the uphill climb.

"Let me take you for a late dinner, please?" Rick insisted.

She did laugh a little at that, looking like a little girl. "Why are you so nice to me?" she was perplexed.

Ivy smiled at Rick, it was very easy to do, but she also saw her mother, with an expression that looked so surprised anyone like him would even have anything to do with her. Too many times had she gone from one emotional extreme to another.

"Well, why not?" he asked her. "You're not a mean girl Ivy, you just think you are."

"Dinner would be wonderful." Ivy accepted his invite before he gave one last squeeze to her hand before leaving.

The blonde turned to her mother and began to change, "You can go home now mom."

"Hmm, who is that? I thought you were seeing Derek." Leigh wondered to Ivy.

"Mom? Didn't you hear what happened? And that is Rick, I met him the other night, he's… sweet." Ivy thought of the first adjective that came to mind about him.

"And cute, he looks so familiar! You really should make sure that one doesn't wander, dear." Leigh smiled, like the nice bitch she was.

"Thanks for the pep talk again, Mom." Ivy said sarcastically, though she just wasn't feeling as bitter as she normally would with her, but maybe she was also just fed up with being hurt. "You can leave now," Ivy said going to the restroom to finish changing waiting till she left not even wanting to her hear say anything else. "Its gonna be okay." she kept saying to herself, letting her tears dry, setting her mind on her work.

/

It was several hours later Rick took his seat beside his mother, and flipped through the Bombshell playbill, thinking about Ivy and how devastated she looked.

Martha flipped through her copy as well. "Leigh Convoy's daughter, Rick? Well its nice to see you more like your old self tonight?"

"Ivy? She's Leigh Convoy's daughter?" Rick said with his mouth agape, feeling dim for not making the connection earlier.

Martha nodded "Not many people know, I think she's really wanting to make it on her own talent." She shook her head, "That woman was one of the worst to ever work with, I can't believe she would even want children. Maternal is very low on the list of words I'd use to describe Leigh..." Martha tilted her head, inspecting him more "The world of theater is full of heartache, aside from having you and Alexis I don't think there's anything that compares to how much every part of you is invested." she sighed seeing her son was much more pensive than he was earlier. To most people he came across as very creative and too free spirited to stay down long, but she knew him better than that.

Rick sighed and replied "Ivy has so much depth, there's so many layers, so much heart to her... and she's ashamed of it. This show has been everything to her, she gave herself over completely."

"Rick? Just how do you know this, and how did you meet her?" she smiled softly seeing her son had developed a soft spot, which was good since she knew he'd been hurting too lately.

"Well, Mother, that's a little personal." he replied with more of his usual swagger. "I met her last night, she came into the bar, she sat down next to me, I asked if I could buy her a drink, and just with one martini she just told me everything she'd been through with this. Apparently the director is her boyfriend, and he cheated on her with Rebecca Duval ." He was even more grateful at that moment she never got the role as Nikki Heat…" He also told her she didn't have "it" and cast the other actress."

Martha sighed and shook her head. " Derek Wills?" she rolled her eyes. "Talented but about as trustworthy as a snake... It's a story that's been told many times in this world. I think if people realized the real heartbreak that came with it, most would just drop out. It takes a lot of love and strength to stick it out."

Rick twisted his brows, finding himself more fascinated by Ivy, wondering how much more there was to her…..The lights dimmed and on stage there were shadow boxes with young women inside and in front was a pretty, tall, lanky girl who began to sing, but Rick's eyes were focused on the brunette to her left. He knew it was Ivy and spent the rest of the play watching her whenever she was on stage.

Ivy waited outside of the theater feeling sick to her stomach, Karen had managed to learn the performance and based of the audience' reactions she was the one who was going to star. Had Rick not asked her out to dinner Ivy mused she may have been staring down her latest prescription.

Rick walked around the corner. God, he looked good. Ivy smiled as much as she could for him. "Hey.."

"Hey you. I saw you performing. "

"You saw it?" Ivy sighed, feeling embarrassed.

"You looked and sounded amazing. 'Smash' was the best part of the entire play, I really wish that _was_ the play... I would have chosen you for Marilyn. " Rick confirmed.

Ivy looked down taking a breath, even if he was being nice it was wonderful to hear him say it "Well, thank you again….."

They took a little walk around the block till Rick took her to a little Italian Bistro that stayed open later in the night. Ivy slowly stirred her minestrone soup but kept her merlot close.

"You've barely had anything to eat." Rick commented biting into his antipasto

"I'm not really hungry." Ivy sighed. "And I'm a horrible date. I've been moody and telling you all of my problems and being a complete Debbie Downer. I haven't even asked you what you do, and why you were at the theater."

"Well, I'm an author, and that was my mother, she's an investor in Bombshell and wanted to see some of the early rehearsals." Rick explained.

"An author? What do you write?" Ivy asked curiously.

"You know the Nikki Heat books?"

Ivy gasped, now recognizing him. "You're Richard Castle! I love those books." she giggled, running a hand in her hair still amazed how she missed all of this and how nice he was being about it.

Rick laughed "Well, I should have lead off with that last night, though I can't imagine it going any better." he wiggled his eyebrows, enjoying seeing more of a light to her.

"Yeah, all my pouting must have been a huge turn on." she snarked. "So tell me when is the next book coming out? Or have you started yet, or looking for inspiration?"

Rick frowned a little. "The next one is set to publish in June and it'll be the last."

"The last? Why?" Ivy asked him curiously.

"I've been 'married' to Nikki Heat for a long time, and now its time for me to move on. Some things only work for a while and when they're not working anymore, you need to realize it before it blows up in your face." Rick said almost as a reminder to himself with a distant look in his eyes.

Ivy frowned seeing the less enthusiastic side of Rick, he looked like he was hurting too, trying to hide it. Probably trying to burry himself into another project she guessed. This time Ivy reached over, wanting to be a comfort to him like he had been to her for the last couple days. "Well, I really enjoyed them. She was a great character."

"She really was." he agreed, not wanting to say anything further about the book series or his inspiration for the series…. "Which is another reason I asked you out to dinner….."

Ivy blinked a few times, and rested her elbows on the table. "And why is that?"

"Ever since I decided to let go of _Nikki_, I knew I was going to need some new material. I wanted a world I hadn't explored yet, something exciting, dramatic, passionate, and a lady to go along with those things." Rick ticked off his reasons for venturing into a new territory.

Ivy nodded. "Okay, very understandable to want to explore and grow as a writer, but what did you want from me?"

"Ivy, I'm wondering if you could be my new inspiration? My muse." he said like it was a proposal.

Ivy starred for a moment, not sure what to say, it was so unexpected. "You want to write a book about me?"

"Well, not you, but _based _on you. Ever since the other night I kept thinking about what a great story you are." At her confused expression he went on. "Beautiful, smart, talented, ambitious, emotional, very emotional, and so in love with what she does, and just wants someone to appreciate how much she gives to do it."

She sighed glancing down at her wine then back up. "I don't know, I mean, I'm really flattered that you see me like that, but you've only just met me 72 hours ago. It seems like a huge commitment to make based on such a short amount of time. And what would you do? Pick my brain for hours on end?"

"I more so would want to shadow you in your everyday life. So we'd be spending a lot of time together." Rick clarified.

Ivy breathed, thinking for a long minute. Well? What would she have to lose? It would be incredible to be the muse for a famous author, a hot, sweet and funny one too. It was like her own Arthur Miller, the idea made her giggle a little. But it all just seemed too good to be true, things never just fell into her lap like this. She struggled for most everything. Rick seemed so sweet, he was witty, and kind of a dork, which only made him more appealing. Maybe he knew her better than she realized already. She vaguely remembered falling asleep last night, him behind her with his arms tight around her. Derek never did that for her, whenever she woke up he always faced away from her…

"If you want, you can take you time to think about it. I know it's a lot to ask and its very sudden, but you have something very special, and I want to see more of it." Rick took her by the hand to let her know the choice was completely her's.

The blonde lit up light she was standing in a spotlight. "Rick Castle, I would love if you would be my shadow."

He smiled back "And I would love if you were my leading lady." he raised his glass to her's and they clinked them before sealing their arrangement with a kiss.


End file.
